The Meaning of Womxn: What It Is and How To Use It

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New words enter the American English language all the time, including today’s word of the day: womxn! In the following article, we will explain what the word womxn means and where it came from. 

By the end of this article, you will be an expert on the word womxn!

What Does Womxn Mean?

According to Dictionary, the word womxn is an alternative spelling of the word woman, which specifically seeks to include transgender, genderqueer, and nonbinary women or people who are woman-aligned. This term is meant to be inclusive of various gender identities. 

People in the LGBTQ community or who support the LGBTQ community might use the term womxn in their speech and writing. For example, a campus center for LGBT people might use the term womxn as a part of their vernacular to signify that they include people outside of the gender binary who are woman-aligned. 

The term womxn is similar to the term Latinx. People who are of Latin heritage but who do not identify as women of color or men of color might prefer the term Latinx versus something like Latina or Latino. 

Spanish and many other romance languages are gendered languages, so terms like Latinx seek to be more inclusive of alternative gender identities. 

Do you prefer the term womxn or woman? 

What Is the Etymology of Womxn?

To learn about the history of the word womxn, we must start with its predecessor, womyn, the first of the respellings of the term woman. According to She the People, the term womyn first appeared in the mid-70s as a progressive term to denote that women are a separate entity from men and not simply a subset of another sex or gender. 

However, the creators of the term womyn came under fire for specifically excluding any trans woman who wanted to use the term and only applying it to cisgender women. Today, people who use the term womyn are often TERFs. 

The term TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. These people believe that only cis women are “real women” and think that they are fighting against the patriarchy and sexism by being transphobic and excluding trans people.

The term womxn became popular in the 2010s as a purposefully different term to womyn. Instead of excluding trans folk, this word specifically seeks to include them. While some people argue that specifically identifying trans women makes them seem “othered” to cis women, the intent of the term is to be inclusive.

What Are Translations of Womxn?

Around the world, people might not know the word womxn or what it means. Instead of using the word womxn with people who do not speak English, you might want to stick to a translation of the word woman. You would not want your intention to get lost in translation, so try to use a clear translation.

Below, you will find several translations of the word woman from Nice Translator. If you are going to be traveling to another country, it will be very helpful to know how to say the word woman! 

If you are looking for a bathroom or other type of place that might be separated gender, you might need to know how to say or identify the word woman in another language.

  • Portuguese (Brazil): mulher
  • Italian: donna
  • Greek: γυναίκα
  • Welsh: fenyw
  • Ukrainian: жінка
  • Japanese: 女性
  • Indonesian: wanita
  • Amharic: ሴት
  • Tamil: பெண்
  • Finnish: nainen
  • Turkish: Kadın
  • Danish: kvinde
  • German: Frau
  • Hindi: महिला
  • Urdu: عورت
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 女士
  • Malay: wanita
  • Telugu: స్త్రీ
  • Basque: emakume
  • Bengali: মহিলা
  • Lithuanian: moteris
  • Polish: kobieta
  • Gujarati: સ્ત્રી
  • Slovak: žena
  • Filipino: Babae
  • Spanish: mujer
  • Norwegian: kvinne
  • Romanian: femeie
  • Korean: 여성
  • Marathi: स्त्री
  • Latvian: sieviete
  • Slovenian: ženska
  • Icelandic: kona
  • Czech: žena
  • Chinese (PRC): 女士
  • Hebrew: אִשָׁה
  • Catalan: dona
  • Swahili: mwanamke
  • French: femme
  • Malayalam: സ്തീ
  • Dutch: vrouw
  • Hungarian: nő
  • Bulgarian: жена
  • Serbian: жена
  • Swedish: kvinna
  • Croatian: žena
  • Portuguese (Portugal): mulher
  • Kannada: ಮಹಿಳೆ
  • Arabic: النساء
  • Russian: женщина
  • Estonian: naine
  • Thai: ผู้หญิง
  • Vietnamese: người đàn bà

What Are Synonyms of Womxn?

Womxn is a very inclusive word for woman, but sometimes, people might be confused by what you mean if they are not familiar with the term womxn. 

If you are speaking with someone who does not know the word womxn, or if you need to refer to a specific type of woman, you can use a synonym from this list from Power Thesaurus

How many synonyms of the word womxn do you know? 

  • adult
  • adult female
  • bride
  • broad
  • char
  • character
  • charwoman
  • chick
  • dame
  • damsel
  • dowager
  • fair sex
  • female
  • gal
  • gentlewoman
  • girl
  • girlfriend
  • human being
  • inamorata
  • lady
  • lass
  • lassie
  • lover
  • maid
  • matron
  • miss
  • missus
  • mistress
  • mxn
  • soul
  • spouse
  • wife
  • wimmin
  • womanhood
  • womankind
  • young woman

What Are Antonyms of Womxn?

While there are many gender identities between female and male, the word man is usually considered the opposite of the word woman. To learn about more opposites of the terms woman and womxn, you can reference this list of antonyms of woman from Power Thesaurus.

  • beau
  • being
  • bloke
  • boy
  • boyfriend
  • chap
  • creature
  • dude
  • fella
  • fellow
  • gentleman
  • guy
  • human
  • human being
  • humanity
  • humankind
  • husband
  • individual
  • lover
  • male
  • man
  • mankind
  • master
  • mate
  • mister
  • monsieur
  • mortal
  • people
  • person
  • signor
  • soul
  • spouse
  • swain
  • valet

Conclusion

The term womxn means woman. This intersectional term seeks to include gender non-conforming people who might identify with the concept of womanhood and femininity, as well as trans women. 

This term is often used to designate trans-inclusive spaces that are free from trans-exclusionary radical feminists and others who are transphobic.

Sources:

Today I Learnt: Womxn And Womyn Mean Two Different Things | SheThePeople TV 

Womxn Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Woman | Nice Translator  

Woman synonyms – 713 Words and Phrases for Woman | Power Thesaurus 

Woman antonyms – 703 Opposites of Woman | Power Thesaurus